Fewer Pinoys suffer from hunger – SWS

Filipino families suffering from hunger have significantly declined in the past three months, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) reported.

SWS said that after reaching a nine-year high of 21.5 percent last September, the national proportion of families experiencing involuntary hunger in the past three months eased to 16.2 percent per results of survey conducted from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3.

But it said the hunger figure, equivalent to 2.9 million families, is nevertheless still well over the average of 11.9 percent in 39 quarterly SWS surveys since mid-1998. Hunger refers to involuntary suffering because respondents specified hunger due to lack of anything to eat, the survey firm said.

Compared to September, overall hunger declined in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, but increased in Metro Manila. Hunger declined by eight points in Luzon excluding Metro Manila, which is still above the nine-year average of 11.4 percent for that area. It declined by seven points in the Visayas, from 21.7 percent to 14.3 percent. In Mindanao, hunger fell from 22 percent to 20.3 percent. Hunger in Metro Manila rose from 17.7 percent to 19 percent.

Moderate hunger, referring to those who experienced it only once or a few times” in the last three months, fell to 12.9 percent in December, from a record high of 17.4 percent in September.

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